The ATP will make its inaugural visit to Saudi Arabia. The men’s tour revealed on Thursday that the Next Gen Finals, the season-ending event for male players under 21, will take place in Saudi Arabia from 2023 to 2027.
Saudi host Next Gen ATP Finals: The tournament’s prize money will also climb to a record $2 million, up from $1.4 million last year. The tournament has been held in Milan since it started in 2017.
The ATP began a bid evaluation process in March to assess host cities in various regions.
“The ATP Tour is really international, and developing new markets is essential to the expansion of the sport. The opportunity to inspire new fans and bring audiences together around tennis is provided by bringing the Next Gen ATP Finals to Jeddah, according to ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi in a statement.
The Saudi Tennis Federation and Jeddah both deserve our congratulations. Together, we look forward to expanding on the event’s phenomenal success.
Earlier this year, Gaudenzi stated that there had also been fruitful conversations with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia only held the Diriyah Tennis Cup, an exhibition competition, as opposed to other Gulf nations like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which have previously hosted ATP tournaments.
Saudi Arabia has recently invested enormous sums of money in sports like football and golf, but detractors claim the nation is using PIF to engage in “sportswashing” in response to harsh criticism of the nation’s human rights record.
After receiving invitations to showcase tournaments, three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray initially rejected the idea of participating in Saudi. However, he mentioned that he might reconsider if ranking points were on the line.
In June, WTA CEO Steve Simon stated that the women’s circuit had not taken any decisions or entered into any formal negotiations with Saudi Arabia because of its history with women’s rights and LGBTQ rights, adding that Saudi still presented “big issues” as host for women’s events.